, 1887-08-25
0UATREFOIL.

SCAhu w VI lilItt years ago any Ol6
passing through ~Fifty-ninth street, New
York, about 8 O'Clock on pleasant morn
ings might nave seen two girls on horse
back, attended by a staid, elderly groom,
enter tho Eighth Avenue gate of Central
Park, and presently disappear under the
lsafy archwuy which forms the entrance
to tho Brillo road.
lho.o two girls wero my cousin Leslie
Edingham and myself, Louise Marie
ArouthnOt, usually known to all my in
Gmttcs III Lou Arbuthnot. Leslie was a
tn IBndor girl with straight classic fea-
tart marble white complexion, and a
pcT4oGt ropO Of hair, ''yollow bike ripe
corn On horseback, IN her perfectly
fitting habit, absolutely nodded to her
figure, sho YVES one continued sinuous,
graceful outline from head 10 foot.
Moreover. shc was very clever, studious,
and vol read, and had but ono serious
fault IN my oyes, that Of being morbidly,
incmrably shy, and especially with mon.
Ono would have thought overy man was
a wolf in sheop's clothing.
In this respect, az IN most others, l was
a perfect contrast to Leslie, az l was
short, plump, and rosy checked, with
curly brown hair. and I nave besn told
often that the dimplos round my mouth
and undo my oyos are But therei
What is the uss Of repeating suoh things2
At that time | had been advised TO try
riding for my health, and Leslie, who al
ways went out every day, had invited
mo 10 accompany her regularly. To this
plan | had but opo obioction-the fact
that | ar, and always was, an arrant
coward ON horseback. Ny father, who
is an Englishman, had mo taught in the
ia PlIS ultra riding school, and attempted
to initill into me his belief on the subject
Of horY's, which he often summed up in
two formulas, VIZ: 1, all horses can be
ridden; ?, 4 horse which osn be ridden
by y man can be ridden By a
Although by dint of instruction l
learned to ride well enough on a quiet
hor'H. n oven TO sit a plunge or two,
| VS. afraid all the time, and if an ami
lnHl il at all positive about having his
orn way ho is sure to get it with me.
To this day | prefer to ride a t~rotting
horse, because when a trotting horse Is
trOtting | am sure he is not running
away.
No words can toll how 1 hated and
feared my black pony Sprite, and well
did tho little wretch know it. and take
advantage Of his power. Perhaps three
mornings out Of four he would go along
quietly enough, the fourth he would shy
at every baby wagon, ID. P. P. cart, drain
sover, or bright pebble he could see, kick
at imaginary flies, squat like a rabbit IL
he Jaw a bicycle, then leap up and scut-
tie away in tho same fashion. Worse
still. though he had absolutely no fear of
the elevated road, at such times he
would not go under it, but turning short
round and rising placidly on his hind
legs, would give me the option of getting
of over his tail or surrendering at dis
oretion.
In vain did Leslis urge, scold, coax,
and ridioulS me; the result was ALWAYS
tho same: her groom had TO come up and
lead Sprits.
Leslie, who in the saddle know no fear,
could not realize my timidity. Her own
horse, a powerful bay thoroughbred,
seemed TO me a perfect terror, liable as
he was at any moment to jump an I'M
known number OF feet off the ground.
lash out viciously while In the air. then
landing u dozen feet farther on, canter
away as quietly a. before; but Leslie
liked nothing better.
Notwithstanding my frequent terrors,
these morning rides were very pleasant.
Often we met and exchanged greetings
with girls whom NO knew, though we
seldom Joined any other party. Some
riders We were nearly sure to meet,
among them Milicent Trsmaino on her
pretty but wicked little mustang, and
about this time you were pretty apt to
see Fred Vandsrhayden's snowy black
mare Forget Ne Not trotting AZ close
alongside the Comet as the pony would
allow. Often, too, we met the DAYTON
twins, and rain or shine we were sure to
tee those fast friends Rita Travsrs and
Edith Mayoold. 1t always amused me
to see Les and Edith Nayfeld scan each
others horses. Both were, In school par
lance, crack riders, but Les had ridden
all her life, while Miss MRyflsld had only
been riding a few years. Though Les
was by far the hRndsomost woman and
most graceful rider, Edith was hard to
beat for dash, pluck and fsarlessness. As
her cousin, Graham Vane, used to say: II
never mind seeing Edith on = bad horse
US l would another woman l Aways
feel sure she will come out all right
somehow or other. She has the knack
Of managing horses"
Miss Mayfsld needed b have = knack,
for ncvsr saw any one ride habitually
such satanic animals, though Leslie some
times looked positively snvious. while
Edith never failed to cast an admiring
glance Al Leslie S handsome Roushan Bey,
especially II at the time he happened to
b. having an attack OF hystoria of tho
hind leEr.
one morning late in April We rode up
to the end Of Tenth avenue. and turned
into q field to jump, while Leslie sent her
groom Of on an errand. saying that
meSrums she would give Roushan Boy
some practice over a stone wall. l
jumped Sprte over the low rail fence
thai divided tho field from the road, and
this feat satisfied all my ambition in that
lin-.
Loslla put Rou.han Bey at the highest
part ~ the stone wall, which he cleared
Eisndly, bat broke away on landing, and
lrs,s could not at once pull him in.
SIP ir. thinking himself deserted. rushed
~ The wall, STOPPED short, then, rising on